Los Angeles history

LAPD Captain Accused of Corruption

On the jump, the complicated case of Police Capt. Charles E. Dixon and Hampshire Hotel operator William D. Gage. Dixon, the head of the department’s “purity squad,” summoned Gage for questioning and accused him of “practices of degeneracy,” The Times said. Unfortunately, despite all the coverage of the case, none of the stories alludes even obliquely to what sort of “degeneracy” was involved. I would assume Gage was accused of being gay, but that’s only a guess. Whatever the accusation, Gage reacted furiously.

I’m posting quite a few stories about this incident because it reflects the nature of graft in this era. Gage was apparently falsely accused, complained to the Police Commission and was pressured to withdraw his accusations. When Gage refused to yield, he received threatening phone calls and his hotel on South Broadway was apparently targeted by a large number of unsavory guests, a technique that will appear in the 1930s harassment of Clifton’s Cafeterias and Clifford Clinton. (See also the Harry Raymond bombing.)

Dixon was eventually fired and became a rancher in Orange County. In 1911, he testified before a grand jury about misconduct in the "Good Government” (Goo-Goo) administration. Buried way down in one of the stories is a line that Sgt. Charles E. Sebastian, the future police chief and mayor, has been promoted to lieutenant.